As wireless networks evolve, the demand for high Quality of Service (“QoS”) coupled with, for example, a shortage of wireless spectrum, makes it challenging for network operators to meet user demand. One approach, in Heterogeneous Networks (“HetNet”), is exploitation of Relay Nodes (“RNs”), e.g., low-power nodes and/or relay-capable users, at cell-edges, “hotspots,” or coverage “holes” of the network to boost spatial coverage and/or cell-edge capacity. HetNets may also implement wireless technologies such as Single-User and/or Multi-User Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (“SU/MU-MIMO”), Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (“OFDM”), and/or advanced error correction techniques to achieve throughput gains.
Under a typical MU-MIMO scheme, users may be prioritized for MU-MIMO pairing based on, for example, channel orthogonality and/or a Signal-to-Interference-Plus-Noise Ratio (“SINR”), regardless of a RN status, which may reduce efficiencies and decrease overall cell throughput.